Let's Make Things Official

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis

Class of 1951

Ina Garten, MBA

Courtney Cox-Arquette

Class of 1986

Moi! 

Class of 2014

Announcing

I have officially accepted admission to The George Washington University in Washington DC. 

Old News? Not for me. The past 3 months have been a whirlwind inside my mind trying to make a decision on what grad school to attend. It was only yesterday that I officially accepted an offer.

My program is the MA in Museum Studies. My museum emphasis will be Collections Management (and most likely a double emphasis in Exhibition Development...which is curatorial training) and my academic emphasis will be Art History. So I will be taking about 5 Collections Management classes, about 5 Exhibition Development classes, and about 5 Art History classes...JACKPOT! I feel honored to be associated with two universities named after two great men- Brigham Young and George Washington.

This sweet little townhouse is the Museum Studies department building right smack in the middle of campus.

Hold up!

I have another announcement to make. It may have crossed some minds as to how on earth I plan to pay for this, one of the most expensive schools in the country. Especially when I always said I would go to which ever school was the least expensive.
I have accepted a full-time position at the University! It's a senior secretary position in the School of Business, Department of Management. I'll be the first to admit that it's kind of a no big deal position, but for me, that's the point! The staff and faculty are kind, personable, and flexible.
This position was, I think, the second job I applied for since coming back from Utah. They called me in for an interview, talked a little march madness, then got offered the job! I was absolutely stunned to learn that there were over 100 applicants and they chose me! They encouraged me to take full advantage of the tuition benefit offered to full-time employees and said I'd be free to go to class and do homework at my desk. I'm choosing to work full-time and go to school less than full-time so that will add an extra year or so to my schooling. It's worth it to me to avoid student loans.

This has been a miracle and I'm so grateful for these blessings in my life!

Things I'm looking forward to:
*NOT paying self-employment tax anymore. Dude. Not worth it.
*Benefits! Health, Dental, Retirement, gonna look into vision, 96% of tuition. BAM!
*making nearly what I was making when I left NPG without the extra taxes, so therefore bringing home more! TMI? Sorry.
*Gonna look into getting a cheap employee membership to GW's Health Center...worked out there when I was in the Barlow Center...It's saaaweet.
*Can't wait for that feeling of, "Ahhh. This is right," everytime I go to class.
*Excited to work closely with some amazing faculty and make new friends with people in my program.
*HOOK ups in the museum world! I'll have to complete 2 museum internships. DC likes GWU students.

STUN

source

Shoes You This Day: Mags and Shan at eastern market

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Marie-Antoinette

I adore and admire Marie-Antoinette.

No, she wasn't perfect. But in most ways, she was everything my alter-ego could ever want to be. She came to France at age 14 as the Dauphine with not a lot of education but a warm heart and obedient spirit. She made friends easily, laughed, adored the arts, and saw through the stiff traditions of the court. She was the type of girl that lit up the room when she entered and attracted all eyes. Later in life she was loyal to duty and to her family. She was devout in all meanings of the word. She was also caring. She remembered names and cared about those who served her. Her heart ached for the less-fortunate.

My last trip to France was partially a pilgrimage in her honor. I bought her biography, written by the august Lady Antonia Fraser, at the Shakespeare and Co. bookstore. I just finished reading it yesterday and I have spent the past two days completing my pilgrimage. I wept at the final chapters, not only because of the fates of Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI, but also because of the barbaric ending of those who were close to the queen and most other monarchists. After finishing the book, I sat at the piano and played Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, which I'm just learning how to play. It is a mournful piece and that moment called for mourning. Then I watched The Scarlet Pimpernel so I could feel that there was some justice for Monarchists at that time. Then, today I watch the ever indulgent film by Sofia Coppola, Marie-Antoinette, which words can't describe how much it is my favorite movie and how often I listen to the soundtrack. Basically you all should know that I am and always will be obsessed with Marie-Antoinette. And Sofia Coppola changed my life.

When I was studying French civilization as part of my minor at BYU I was asked to write a paper where I had to choose a side: Revolutionist or Monarchist. I really thought about it for a while, because I do believe in Republican rule, and I value my American citizenship and heritage, which only came to be after rebellion and violence against a sovereign (and would not have been successful without the aid of the French, which contributed to the massive debt incurred by the Bourbon rule and which Louis XVI and M-A suffered the consequences). But I chose Monarchist, because I'm a conservative, traditional, religious person who dislikes violence and  rebellion. I remember my teacher, who was brilliant and inspiring and incidentally not LDS, was surprised that so many of us chose Monarchy over Revolution, especially because it was revolution that made France what it is today. The whole time I was reading M-A's biography I was reminding myself that France wouldn't be what it is today without these things happening. Well, I've come to this conclusion: Nothing can change the past. What happened happened. But I don't believe that the hatred, violence and complete disrespect of life needed to happen in order for a revolution to occur. Shame on those who contributed to the horrendous acts that accompanied these deaths. I will spare you the details, but a lot more happened than just the work of Madame Guillotine. And the Monarchy was reinstated shortly after the Reign of Terror anyway, so it makes me feel like it sure was a waste of a lot of lives. But I do acknowledge it made great strides in building a republic.

 I don't know of any record of M-A saying these words to her two surviving children before she died. She was in a cell and did not get to see them. They didn't even know it had happened until months afterwards. She wrote a letter to her sister-in-law who was with the children at the time and she may have included these words in the letter, but that letter was confiscated and was rediscovered 22 years later. I do know that in that letter some of her last words admonished her surviving family members to forgive.

The bodies of Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI lie in the Saint-Denis Basilica. Bremen and I stayed in its shadows the second half of our trip. We walked past it and through it many times, and each time I thought of Marie-Antoinette. 

This is a working list of places to visit in order to have a Marie-Antoinette pilgrimage of your own:

*Vienna and the Habsburg residences

*Versailles including Petit Trianon and the Hamlet

*various sites in Paris

* The Tuileries where the family lived after being taken from Versailles

*the "temple" metro stop in the 3rd Arrondisement which is the location of the former Temple fortress where the royal family was imprisoned until Louis XVI's death and beyond until M-A was taken to the Conciergerie

*the Musee Carnavalet which exhibits some last artifacts that the Royal Family kept with them until the end and also one of M-A's last portraits done while she was in captivity

*Conciergerie, where M-A was imprisoned until her death

*Place de la Concorde where Marie-Antoinette was executed on October 16 1793.

*a small park with monument to the monarchy at the former cemetery off rue d'anjou near Galleries Lafayette. This is where the King and Queen were first hastily buried.

*The Basilica of Saint-Denis where their bodies were reinterred in the Bourbon family tomb. 

waiting...

I didn't mean to string any of you along with my pending good news but everything is taking so much longer than I thought it would. Therefore, I'm not able to make any definite decisions on my plans for grad school. So while I'm waiting for everything to fall into place, this is how I feel these days...

Shoes You This Day:...or not

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I felt so helpless

Today I took a lovely walk to the post office. The lady working there (a new lady) was actually kind and helpful. Until something unusual happened. I handed her my credit card to pay for the postage. She (quite forcefully) swiped that bad boy through the machine and it flew out of her hand as it came out the other side. It flew across the cubical wall and out of sight, but I heard it bounce. I thought, "no big deal-she'll just walk over there and pick it up." Which she did, but it was no where to be found. I couldn't see from my restrained position in front of the counter, but apparently this was like major storage area. There were all kinds of boxes of materials and outgoing mail lining the cubical wall. Girlfriend started picking up boxes and sifting through them...when she sifted through the outgoing mail box I started getting a little worried, imaging my credit card getting shipped off to who knows where. She looked and looked and looked and you know that feeling when someone is looking in the totally wrong area and you keep telling them, "I think it bounced that way," and you just start to feel like all is lost? I started feeling that way. The lady was so sweet and cute though, bouncing around lifting boxes and kind of giggling and crawling around on her hands and knees. And she was a Latina too, which just made her cute. She looked for a really long time, and all I could do was lean over the counter and watch. I thought surely it was against the law for me to go back there. She went from one side of the cubical to the other and still couldn't find it. I was getting worried. Like seriously, where could it have gone? I think she finally found it when she went back to the first side and crawled down below and reached under the cubical wall. I was so relieved. Weird story, huh?

Shoes You This Day: walking home after a long talk with Lynn

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Sometimes you get to spend 2 months with people you love and do things you love like:

install exhibitions

girls nights

enjoy beautiful Utah

Explore cute vintage shops

pretend like he's yours

take trips to the MOA with tons of family members

go to Sundance Film Festival

Go to the Symphony

Watch TONS of basketball (go #11!)

Adore nature's beauty

Appreciate history

Fulfill a dream

Shoes You This Day: Guest Post

Here's a little glimpse into the life of my sister, Adrianne, who so many of you have heard me talk about or who you know and love yourself. She's married, hilarious, smart, crafty, and graduating from BYU's Marriott School of Business in a few weeks.

But first:

Adrianne and Maggie at the BYU Museum of Art. Duh.

My name is Adrianne Jayne Young. Since getting married a little over two years ago and becoming a Young, my husband has been working hard trying to transform me from "city girl" to "country girl." Some of these things I've done before, but we have spent time fishing, camping, hiking, skiing, shooting, and 4-wheeling. The Youngs have opened my eyes to the worlds of canning, baking bread, and even chopping and hauling wood (to use for a wood burning furnace). We even went into the wilderness and chopped down our own Christmas tree this year. The Youngs are very good at self-sufficiency. They garden, can, sew, quilt, rock at saving food storage, and so much more. I have loved learning so many new skills and enjoying so many new activities. 

Before my named changed, I was Adrianne Jayne Leak (Maggie's baby sis), and the Leaks are a little different from the Youngs. For the most part, the Leaks enjoy attempting being self-sufficient and the occasional camping trip that includes running water, bathrooms, and from time to time electricity. The Leaks love cooking and baking too, but most importantly, we love eating, especially sweets. The Leaks have BIG sweet teeth, and we love our chocolate. Instead of spending a weekend snowmobiling, 4 wheeling, fishing, or shooting, the Leaks tend to complete a puzzle or attend a concert or play. The Leaks love exploring different cultures (as do the Youngs). I have many memories attending the Greek and German festivals at home in Kansas City. The Leaks love vacations and would gladly drop some big bucks to travel the country and world. I love all of these things.

What I'm learning is that it's really fun to discover where someone else came from, how different families are, and what people do. I love discovering the differences and appreciating the similarities. It's been a pleasure to join these two families together in me, and now I am proud to be both a Leak and a Young.

Adge and Jed. awwww.

The Other Washington

I've been wanting to post about my trip to the other Washington to see these fine people for months! I'm so grateful I got to go spend a week with the Harrison family. Shortly after my visit they found out they'd be moving away from the Seattle area to Minneapolis (and I think they're moving there as I speak) so I'm glad I got to spend time with them there.

They live in Lacey, not far from Olympia. While I was there, late January, the weather was great and the sky was clear most days! I got to see a lot of the mountains, which is what I longed for.

 I especially loved getting to hang out with this guy for the second time in his and my lives

 Of course we went to Seattle and enjoyed an afternoon seeing the sights...it was a first for me and something I've wanted to do my whole life! Can't wait to go back sometime with other Seattle friends.

 Alisa and Owen were sweet enough to let me get my art fix.

 We went on a pretty walk and looked at all the moss growing on everything.

 And took a trip up the west side of the Sound. Such beautiful scenery.

 It was such a lovely trip. I got to hang out with Ryan quite a bit, Alisa showed off her amazing cooking skills, watched some BYU basketball, got to meet Alisa and Ryan's friends, watched some movies, worked out at their gym..."Alisa I'm kind of mad at you right now." I almost forgot that throughout all of this I could hardly walk or move because of an unfortunate experience at a certain gym class. Alisa you know what I'm talking about.

I forgive you.

oh and check out these pics I took of Mount Rainier out the window of the airplane.